Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 106 - 96: Defeating the Cyan-Faced Bat King, Fusion Martial Arts!

Ssssss!

Steel needles pierced through the ancient trees of the forest. The trunks hadn't even reacted before there were fist-sized holes in them. Only then did the branches and leaves begin to sway violently; some thinner pine trees snapped and crashed to the ground.

Rumble—

Dust billowed more than ten feet high in the forest. Amid the clouds of dust, crazed laughter resounded, echoing from all directions, swirling around Su Mu's ears and mind, so that he couldn't determine the true position of his opponent.

In that split second—

A bat-like shadow flashed forward, trailing afterimages. The cyan sleeves spun, transforming their edges into blades as sharp as refined iron weapons. As the sleeve swept near, it was like a white ribbon slashing down. If a Muscle-Enhancing Martial Artist were caught off guard by this attack, even if not dead, they'd be gravely injured.

A cold light flashed.

At this moment, the strength of the Hidden-Dragon Level exploded forth. This strike, piercing through the dust and swift beyond compare, so fast that even an ordinary Muscle-Enhancing Martial Artist would fail to track it—yet in Su Mu's eyes, it slowed down tenfold, as if playing in slow motion.

Su Mu's gaze sharpened. Black energy swirled on his right palm as he struck out with one hand.

Clang!

Flesh and blood struck the sleeve, but what rang out was the sound of metal clashing. This was the Iron Sand Palm at the Realm of Perfection. Iron Sand Palm was also a Cross-Training Martial Art; though Ninth Grade, in Su Mu's hands at perfection, its power was terrifying.

The Cyan-faced Bat King Wei Ming, seeing his blow fail, didn't linger. With a flick of his sleeves, his figure flashed into the dust, and moments later he swept out again like a cyan-winged bat.

This time Su Mu took a deep breath, his eyes flickering. He realized the Cyan-faced Bat King was deliberately maintaining this dust, purely to blind his senses.

After a brief exchange, Su Mu quickly sensed that the Bat King was someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong—or rather, someone exceptional at Lightweight Skills but lacking in killing power.

If at this moment the Cyan-faced Bat King Wei Ming knew Su Mu's opinion of him, he'd surely be enraged. His Lightweight Skill was unrivaled among the Four Protectors; more than seventy percent of his Martial Arts were in Body Technique and Lightness Skill and Hidden Weapons. Even so, wielding Transforming Force, his power was immense—any ordinary Muscle-Enhancing Martial Artist would be at his mercy.

But today Wei Ming had encountered someone physically outstanding, who had nearly perfected Vajra Body—Su Mu. In Wei Ming's eyes, Su Mu was like a Profound Turtle, unmoving and unbreakable, beyond his grasp.

This was also why Wei Ming detested those bald monks of Vajra Temple. If it were just Gongsun Hu, a small monk, that was one thing. But should he face a big monk accomplished in Horizontal Training, he'd never break through their defenses—though his foe couldn't do much to him either.

"Damn it... This one should have been left to Xie Li, that brute."

Wei Ming, hiding amidst the dust, glared at Su Mu and cursed to himself. For this plan, he had schemed for ages, even risking the exposure of the Sharp Gold Banner's stronghold.

With the stronghold exposed, even if Sharp Gold Banner's men started relocating, losses would be immense. If Wei Ming now left empty-handed, he'd never be reconciled.

He launched another assault immediately.

"Just in time!"

But Su Mu's eyes lit up. He shielded himself with Vajra Body, letting Wei Ming strike at will, while with his left hand he unleashed Gale Fist, and his right the Rock Shattering Fist.

Both fists pounded out nonstop, a chorus of howling wind and the muffled smash of stone.

Gradually—

A glimmer of spiritual light flashed in Su Mu's gaze. Over the past half-year, he'd sensed this inspiration more than ten times, but never fully realized it.

Yet under Wei Ming's pressure, Su Mu now achieved a new insight; a coolness flowed between his brows as he entered a state of enlightenment.

His right hand's initially slow Rock Shattering Fist became ever faster, while the previously swift Gale Fist slowed down dramatically.

One fast, one slow—motion and stillness cycling, clarity poured forth like a gushing spring!

Crack!

Inside his mind came the sound of porcelain shattering—one, then another, then a flood; inspiration surged like an autumn river. Under the selfless sparring of the Cyan-faced Bat King, one of the Four Protectors of the Black Mountain Rebel Army—

Su Mu was fully enlightened.

"Martial arts are killing techniques... I just didn't have enough pressure before!"

It was then that Su Mu's whole body shuddered. His fists fluttered chaotically, form and rhythm lost. In that instant, the Cyan-faced Bat King caught his opening and grinned with savage joy, instantly manifesting as a cyan-winged bat, sweeping in with a blast of sinister wind.

Kasaya Skill: Bodhi Blood Blade!

Wei Ming's eyes flashed blood-red; both sleeves spun like lotus petals, Transforming Force surging in to condense the edges of his sleeves into blades, slashing down like arches of scarlet light.

This blow could sever heavy armor forged of hundred-refined refined iron. No fewer than a dozen Muscle-Enhancing Martial Artists had died beneath this strike!

But at that instant, Su Mu's right hand clenched into a fist. He felt within his arm the powers of stone-shattering and wind howling surging together, the two forces twisting and twining within his arm like flood dragons—then merging entirely into one.

"Let's use the Cyan-faced Bat King as a test, see what this really can do!"

Su Mu muttered. As the twin forces reached their peak, he struck out with a fierce punch.

The fused dragon-like force leaped from his fist, distorting the air before his knuckles, crushing it like an invisible wall.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The weeds and soil beneath Su Mu's feet were ripped up by the roots, churning wildly—and then thunder exploded across flat earth.

Stone-breaking and wind-rending merged into a thundering blast.

Crack!

The cyan-winged bat flickered in the air, but still couldn't dodge—struck hard in the chest, his bones cracked instantly, and four thunderclaps followed as blood and flesh splattered.

Three detonations came from the Rock Shattering Fist; the fourth was the eruption of Pill Force!

The cyan-winged bat's body shook violently as it tumbled earthward, coughing up blood midair. In the span of a heartbeat, several metal pellets shot forth.

Su Mu threw another punch, intercepting the pellets in midair from a dozen feet away. They burst open, not to injure, but releasing billowing black fog.

"Poison mist?"

Su Mu's feet shifted, Startled Sparrow Step pulling him swiftly back. He fired another punch, scattering the oncoming black mist. Just as the cyan-winged bat was about to crash, his wings flared; streaks of bloodlight flashed and his speed doubled as he sped away into the distance.

"Bald old monk of Vajra Temple—you remember this! One day, I, Wei Ming, will repay this grudge a hundredfold!"

Blocked by the black mist, Su Mu couldn't pursue directly, and besides, there were more important matters at hand; as for Wei Ming, he was just another defeated foe. Anyone Su Mu surpassed would never overtake him again.

Without delay, Su Mu hurried back to Wu Qiao'Er's hiding spot, confirmed the person in the tree was unharmed, then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to digest the insights flooding his mind.

Not long after, the figure under the tree shivered, the eyes that slowly opened flickering with lightning.

??? (Small Success 1%)